Null and Void (Revision 0)
by waddleon
Summary: DISCONTINUED FOR RE-WRITE
1. Towerfall

_Chapter 1:_

 _Towerfall_

 _The City's walls were unbreakable._

 _They had survived centuries._

 _When the Fallen houses united, they did not fall._

 _When the factions within fought, they did not fall._

 _When the Vex brought their god to Mars, they did not fall._

 _When Oryx came, they did not fall._

 _When SIVA was stolen by the Fallen, they did not fall._

 _The Cabal broke them in minutes._

I'm sure I've had worse days, though I'm not sure when.

Cayde jokingly calls me "Everyone's second favorite Guardian", but I'm probably lower on the scale than that. Just ignore the fact that I alone go back to the Oversoul Throne every other week to re-banish Crota. Never heard of it? Probably because no one ever talks about it. Of course, the 'Ultimate' fireteam was busy in Oryx's realm, so it was just me. Something about the Oversoul realm being intertwined with the Vex network because Crota had-

 _Boom!_ A Cabal drop pod hits the city ground right next to me, jarring me back to the moment. I stash _Immobius_ in favor of Hakke's _Arminius-D_ , feeling the familiar buzz of the rifle in my hand. According to the Cryptarchs, there had been a machine gun produced around-about the 1900's (or maybe 1800's, 2000's?) that had been infamous, nicknamed 'Stalin's buzzsaw', or something like that. Just another dictator that had, oh, just forget it. This gun was better, I decided, as three Cabal fall limp towards the ground.

 _Brad! Stop monologuing and watch your six! More gladiators heading towards the north-east evac points!_ My ghost buzzes in my headset.

"Geez, how many there in that command ship? What's this, two hundred?"

 _Try thirty-seven, nimrod._

Rolling my eyes, I swap weapons again, sprinting towards the cross-sections of the streets. Did I mention that the city was on fire? The city's on fire. Makes it really hard to concentrate when the battlefield is less than a mile from where you sleep. Not any easier when you consider that they average seven feet, eight hundred pounds, and live for over a thousand years.

ON AVERAGE!

Not to mention that the literally have blown up planets, moons, and stars for getting in the way of their ships.

I slide into the intersection, pivoting into a lunge as I feel void energy pulse down my arm, vaporizing a legionnaire as I punch it in the chestplate. The familial empowerment of the force strike's shield engulfs me as I continue sprinting into a centurion, blasting its shield away and blowing the helmet off with the follow-up shot of my shotgun. My HUD flares as my overshield breaks and my normal shield takes a blow from Cabal slugs. The two others in the small drop group, a phalanx and an flame guy (my ghost is two busy as I blast my auto-rifle at the pair to correct me). The shield is different from the normal phalanx I've encountered on Mars, larger, and expandable to form a barricade nearly thirty feet wide. I try to hit the central power core and aim for the arm raised over the shield, launching miniature rockets the size of paintballs at me. One flies past my head, plowing through plywood and plaster from the sounds behind me. The shield collapses, exposing the whole group. A few seconds of 'bullet hosing' later, and the group is dead. I check the motion detector in my Commando Custom helmet.

Nothing.

"Box?" (Yes, I call a sentient AI marvel box) "How much time do we have until the ships leave?"

"Schedule says you've got ten minutes."

"How far have I got to go?"

"About a kilometer. Better start running"

I get to the hangar seven minutes later. Ships are being loaded up, frames buckling people in to wall-mounted seats.

"Look who we have here! You decided to show, after all."

Greeting me is Shi-2, an exo warlock who decided that a loose translation for _death_ would be a good name. Shi has her favorite armor set on, complete with her solar _Nothing_ _Manacles_ , _Tlaloc_ in her hands and _Murmur_ on her back. She walks towards me and we bump fists. "Kyle's up in the rafters, as usual."

"How are the civilians?" I ask. "Seemed like I-4 had some encounters with a gladiator on the way here." Though her helmet remains expressionless, I can almost feel the hatred seeping through her.

"It was rough going. We lost four, a small child and her parents, and another adult." She shakes her head. The slim metallic head reflecting little light off of its matte grey finish, a faded white 7 barely visible past red eyes. Her mouth flashes, also red. "Sometimes I wish we all had the Traveler's gift. Poor souls tried to lure it away from the group. It worked but I wasn't able to get there soon enough."

"I know you did your best. You always do, after all."

"Well, it's your turn for that. Not many people, Guardian or not, can lift a half-ton package of rations. D*mn*d forklift broke down a few minutes ago."

I laugh. "At least it wasn't in the middle of the race course!" Grunting, I lift the pallet and slide it up the ship's loading ramp.

Kyle is suddenly next to me. If I hadn't been with him when fighting Aksis, I might have been startled, but years have conditioned me to the hunter's... annoyingness?

"I remember that." He says, feet sliding as he tries to help push the foodstuffs in the ship.

"What was your last count?" Shoving the materials the last few inches into the bay, I turn and look at him. His short-cut "Ninety-seven?"

"Oh, shut up. The sparrow only blew up eighty."

Just a few months ago, Shaxx had gotten together with the rest of the tower and, in festiveness of The Dawning, plotted out two new SRL courses for Amanda. An rusted forklift had been at the end of a blind turn, claiming hundreds of places in the race, and most Guardians' dignity with it. The prongs of the forklift hung near his hydra skull for weeks.

"How do you forget about it that many times?"

"I was more concerned about pushing you off the course."

Shi pulls herself into the ship. "Though it only ever worked on Venus." She punches me in the side, lightly. "Why are you so good at racing? You always finished at least ten seconds ahead of anyone else."

"A mystery, I suppose." I look around at my misfit of friends, proudly, glad that they can't see my face or read my mind. "Get ready for flying." They both nod, and after a few more seconds of small talk, we split, each heading to a ship.

The cockpit is mediocre. I'm suddenly glad that I've had the _Arcadia Jumpship_ from the beginning. I flip switches both on the console in front of me and above, starting the dual turbine-rocket engines.

"Where're we headed?" I ask.

"North-east cosmodrome, Sector B7-A" The radios in these civilian transports are actually _radios_ , so his voice is backed by static. Makes it sound fake, you know? Like it's a movie or something.

"You hear that?" I yell to my fireteam over our private coms. "Get ready to fight off some more Eliksni!"

"Honestly, anything beats the Cabal right now." Shi says, her transport lifting and flying up and out of the hangar. "If I can get away from the d*mn*d drop pods."

"Maybe you're just bad?"

"If you don't shut it, I swear that as soon as we land, I'll tear your face off."

As I leave the shuttle bay, I say a silent prayer to the Traveler. Who even knows if it listens? What if it isn't sentient at all. It might just be a giant machine ball that floats around…

My thoughts trail off, and I listen to Kyle trying to come up with a retort. My ghost phases next to me, Just on the edge of your vision.

"Don't worry about it." He drifts closer to me, voice sincere. "We'll do everything we can to protect them." I nod in silent agreement. I jump into the conversation, cutting Kyle off mid-sentence.

"Maybe you're right Kyle." I say. Shi mouth starts working, but I cut her off again. "Besides, you know everything about just being bad."

It takes us half an hour to get to the landing point with the other ships. But instead of landing, we see the ships that are already grounded with their bay doors open, people squeezing inside. Normal capacity is seven to ten, but they can support four tons of cargo, so as long as there's room that people can fit into, it works. I land hastily, opening the ramp before I'm even on the ground.

"Shi, what's happening?"

"Not sure."

"Me neither. Patching in radio channel-" Kyle pauses for a second. "Aaaaand… done-" His voice is cancelled out as the shouts of the other pilot's panic.

"How much time?"

"Get as many people as you can and get your a-"

"I saw three of them on the lower path."

"Hey!" My abnormally loud voice quiets them, briefly. "What's going on?" Over the clamor of responses, I manage to find one voice to listen to.

"Richard here says he saw a pack of three Goliaths heading towards the DZ. Got two minutes until they have a clear sightline, maybe less."

Shi expresses her feelings in a strong verbal fashion.

"Richard?!"

"What?"

I pull off my restraints and disembark the cockpit. "Find another pilot and get them into-" I look at the hull's plating- "the _Promethean Star_ immediately! And when I tell you to leave, you have all better get out quick."

"And we should listen because..?"

"Because my ghost can only make so much ammo. Now hurry!"

All of the voices flood onto the channel as they realize that some of their 'volunteer resident pilots' are Guardians.

"Box?"

 _You in a Gjallarhorn mood?_ I smile beneath my helmet.

"Yes I am."

"Brad, what the h*ll are you doing?" Shi yells.

"I'll catch up to you later. For now, get all of these people out and find somewhere safe."

"Like h*ll" Shi blinks and walks next to me. "You're not the only Guardian here."

Kyle sits behind us, twirling his staves. "Good thing you live in the industrial districts." He smiles up at me, sliding the metal bars up his sleeves. "Plenty of pilots. Plus, I finally got my hands on a _Radon Flux_. You wouldn't want that to go to waste, now would you?"

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't care."

"As long as your ghost doesn't die, I don't care what you two do. Just don't make out or anything."

Kyle wrinkles his nose. "Eww! You know we're just friends!"

I heft Gjallarhorn as Box finally transmats it into my hands. I slide the top forward, loading two wolfpack rounds into the tube. "Better you do it with her and not me. I know your computer search history, you know."

"I told you to stop!"

I bump armored fists with him, helmet materializing and replacing my natural view with the all-familiar HUD.

"See you on the flip side"

You've likely seen a Goliath before. Terrifying when I saw one for the first time. We were assaulting a land 'tank' the size of a city when a harvester swooped in and dropped the Goliath right in the middle of the only path to the Valus. Twenty plus resurrections later, and we finally broke one of the vertical thrusters.

Shi is likely thinking about the same experience.

"You guys remember that Valus?"

I hear grunts as Kyle talks as he climbs to a vantage point.

"I still- think- we should have- snagged it- for the- tower."

"You know we can only transmat so much." Kyles ghost says, annoyed. "Especially because that purple ball you took had residual void light."

"We truly lost some of our greatest possessions during this assault."

"Got it!" I tell them, staring down the scope of my _Longbow_. "Got a pack of three Goliaths, two Interceptors, and a support squad of ground troops."

"Got eyes"

"I've got Eyes too. When do we start?"

I keep an eye on my motion radar. They're too far away to have shown up on it, meaning that we'd have to start compensating for noticeable bullet drop.

"Hold- just a little bit longer-" I switch to _Gjallarhorn_ , aiming the red dot in the middle of the optics at the tank's front-left engine. Seconds later, the optic is outlined in red and the weapon starts beeping.

"Light'em up."

 _AW:_ Here it is! A new (hopefully) decent. If you have any suggestions I will gladly take them! I have a few ideas, and this is eventually going to turn into a crossover with _Overwatch_ , a game that also has a lot of 'hidden' story, and my brother plays it, so... yeah. I've got around ten pages at the moment, and will try to find a good way to pace the chapters.

Box the jabber and waddle on!


	2. Goliath

_Thanks for the support! Especially since I was just planning in using this as an archive. Sorry for the shorter chapter, but they do get a bit longer. PM/DM/whatever-they-call-it criticism, ideas, and general feedback if you can. But I'll box the jabber and waddle on._

 _Chapter 2:_

 _Goliath_

 _In Earth's history, 'tanks', as they are know now, have always been one of the few true points of power on a battlefield. In the second 'World War', the countries of Germany and the United States both developed their own interpretations of power. The largest one ever planned was designed by the German army, and would take a crew of more than fifteen men to control._

 _Now imagine a tank with automated defense systems._

 _A turret with the power to destroy any fortified building in a single shot._

 _Four vertical thrusters instead of treads._

 _Double the size, and you've got yourself a Cabal Goliath Tank._

 _And it's their smallest tank._

It's a beautiful light-show. A smoky trail follows the rocket as it roars towards the tank. The Legionaries see it coming too late. It detonates after directly hitting the engine, the wolfpack rounds flung outward from the rocket seeking the nearest heat source. I launch a second at one of the rear engines, switching to my _Arminius-D_ , flipping the select-fire toggle to its slower fire rate. Lines of deep orange solar energy blast past me with the telltale sound of the _Icebreaker_ 's shot behind me. Both port-side engines fail simultaneously, causing it to fall on the ground, dragging itself over three Legionaries before the engine goes critical, detonating the vehicle. I've already moved my aim to the last tank in the line-up. Phalanxes are deploying their barricade shields around the remaining tanks, protecting the engines as the Interceptors turn and blast towards my location.

"Brad…"

"I know, I see them." I empty a mag into the Phalanx shield before sprinting to the side, lowering into a slide as the Interceptor blasts past me, cleaving trees from the ground. The second turns to face me, and the Psion's head blows off, a trail of arc blowing through it.

"You're welcome" Shi's mechanical voice crackles in my ear.

I lower my rifle towards the remaining Interceptor pilot, flipping the fire selector back to 'bullet hose mode'. I shoot. My strength, compliments of being a Titan, keeping the recoil under control. The protective screen in front of the Psion quickly shatters, and the Psion falls off, dead, leaving the Interceptor relatively undamaged. The loud clicking sound of the Goliath firing is followed by a missile flying overhead, destroying a tower that Kyle had climbed into. Running over to the interceptor, I shout to him over the com.

"I'm all right!" He yells back, a little panicked. "I'm in a different tower."

I pull myself onto the Interceptor, throttling straight towards the remaining Goliaths.

 _I swear, if you pull a-_ Box starts.

"I'm doing it." I pull out my shotgun with one hand, blasting the control console, followed by the front armor. It buckles, causing smoke, sparks and flames billow out. I stash _Immobius_ , forming a voidwall grenade in the palm of my now unoccupied hand. I can almost hear Box's complaints through his silence, and then we're within twenty meters. I roll off, sliding under the Goliath as the Interceptor plows into it, detonating as I drop my voidwall. Dark energy burns from both sides of the grenade, causing a long line of purple fire. As I slide out through the other side, the Goliath Collapses, four thrusters crumpling under the sudden load of heat and external damage.

"Did you see that!?" I yell. First time doing it without being blown up-

I hear a deep clicking sound as the final Goliath, ruined tanks blocking any forward movements, shoots me with its main turret at close to point-blank range.

Death is not painless. Though I can't remember the first, every resurrection since then was because I died. Simple as that. You feel everything. So just now, when I was hit with a piece of artillery meant to take down ships from less than a hundred feet? I felt my entire body vaporize. The pain makes it seem to take longer, the burn of solar energy as my remaining chunks fly backwards, on fire.

But death is not the end. Nothing from it. The Ghosts allow us to harness light. While everyone has their own element (literally), you can, through training, and a lot of discipline, extend your reach towards the other elements. In my encounters as a Defender Titan, I have the ability to wield the weapons of a Sentinel, albeit less powerful. I even went as far as studying under the watchful eye of Ikora Rey, my mentor for self-resurrection post-mortem. Took seventeen years, and I remember every detail of it now. My _essence_ being pulled together in a matter of seconds as I rise from the ground, running towards the last tank, throwing myself on top of it.

I have to be a bit careful. If I die before my Ghost has the ability to gather its own light back to empower me, I'll be dead. Very, very dead. But in the moment, I feel invincible, void light enveloping me now, giving me strength. Giving me speed. So as the turret rotates towards me, I crouch between it and the rest of the tank, pushing upward with everything I have. The metal groans; both from the turret and the tank's body underneath me. The combined force of me and the resistance of the turret bend it's barrel, the thick metal body armor beginning to fold underneath me. The last tank is defenseless as Shi and Kyle unload their snipers on the thrusters and the exposed, unprotected material underneath the turret. The tank falls to the ground, engine screaming as it goes critical. I walk off, walking back to the clearing that was the evac point.

The ships are all gone, almost out of sight. Shi's sitting there, Kyle sitting on the windowsill of another tower, dangling his legs out.

"Well, that was exciting" He notes, using the com. "Show-off."

"Well, it worked."

Shi looks at me. "How the h*ll do you self-rez with void light?"

I laugh. "What, you mean Ikora won't mentor you?"

"She's tried." Kyle laughs. "Says that she 'doesn't have enough discipline'"

"What, and he has some!?"

"Of course!" I say. "Seventeen years of study! And besides, a Titan without discipline is like a computer without programs. It's in here somewhere."

"I just think she's jealous that the first person to self-rez without solar light is a Titan, not a Warlock. Especially when it shouldn't be possible."

Void light swarms around her hand.

 _Ghost_ , I tell 'myself', _standby for fireteam resurrection._

"And Ikora's busy and all, what with the war and everything..."

Shi pulls her arm back like she's going to throw a shot-puck, her body rising off of the ground as she hurls a Nova Bomb at the building window.

"Oh, for goodness sak-" Kyle starts.

The bomb slams into him, destroying everything in a ten-foot radius.

" _You should have shut up, m*****f*****._ " Shi mutters to herself. I whistle.

"Overkill much?" I ask, walking over towards Kyle's annoyed ghost. It's appeared at the base of the collapsing building. "An axion bolt would have worked well enough." I reach it, and the Ghost syphons some of my light to rebuild Kyle's body.

"Well," He says when he's finally 'alive' again, brushing imaginary dust off of his shoulder, "I can't say I didn't deserve that."

"You two can finish this in the crucible later." I note "Let's get back to the tower. I'm sure Commander Zavala won't mind having a few more hands."

"Who else can teach Brad to knit?" Shi says, bitterness still evident.

"Shut up! It's manly." I say. "Takes patience, you know."

Our three ships fly together, heading straight for the tower. Surprisingly, they aren't much faster than the transports, and our ghosts all advised us that jumping while in the atmosphere wasn't a good idea. So we're flying straight towards the Last City, twenty-two minutes away.

"Shi?"

" _Nothing yet_." She says. We've been patched in to all of the tower com frequencies, and all we get is static and your regularly scheduled advertisements on the public station, and the constant drone of the evacuation alarm from the alert system. " _Maybe it's the clouds?_ "

" _Or they're jamming the city. Coms quality was questionable before we left._ "

"Just keep trying. The last thing we want is-"

…

…

…


	3. Lightless

_Chapter 3:_ _Lightless_

 _Archived from the week before the attack:_

 _Messages for Ikora?_

 _There is one new listing:_

 _Text based message received from: Near the Hellmouth on The Moon_

 _Sender ID: Brad_is_rad_

 _Receiver ID: Commander Zavala and Ikora Rey and Cayde-6_

 _Message contains:_

 _I miss the light._

 _The darkness here is overwhelming. It doesn't make any sense. Why would Crota be coming back on a weekly cycle? Ikora thinks it may have something to do with him "being tricked to opening a Vex portal in Oryx's throne world, being thrown into the network", and on, and on. And why doesn't anyone help me? Sure, I can easily kill him solo, but some light company (get it? Guardians, light) wouldn't hurt._

 _Anyway, I'm about to head back into the Oversoul Throne. At least I can transmit text based messages. Crimson and Red Death will keep me company with Classical-42._

 _Fingers crossed I don't die this time._

 _And Crota doesn't get summoned by some hive ritual somewhere._

 _Oh, and tell Cayde that his stashes are garbage. Rep tokens? Really? If I wasn't down here, I'd grab that stupid horn and-_

 _Transmission stops._

 _Transaction Complete._

 _Have a splendid day!_

 _Books. Books for the Titans. Too heavy. Oh dear_

 _-Kadi 55-30 recording archives, message received by Ikora Rey and Commander Zavala and Cayde-6 3 months prior to the Dawning._

...

Everything hurts. I feel warm, wet, cold, hot. My eyes slowly open, revealing that my ship crashed, and I was thrown from it? Or dragged? I can't think straight. Everything hurts. I try to stand, but can't, pain shooting into me from my leg. My leg? It's bleeding. That's why I'm wet, I think. I feel my head, arm slow and heavy. I feel slimy lumps of clumped blood. A massive gash above my left eye, towards the ear. I sit up. When did I lay down?

Sound slowly returns to me. I wish it didn't. Fire crackling, distant explosions.

But that's not what worries me.

I feel empty.

The burning power of light is gone. Gone. But… how…

"Box?" I drawl. It hurts. I feel like my throat is inside-out. "Box?" This time louder, longer.

Nothing.

Nothing.

I don't feel him.

Where was I? I see my ship on the ground, front crumpled and back split nearly in half, jutting out of the ground like a thrown spear. I must have crashed. When did I crash? Why did I crash?

No...

No.

NO!

"Kyle?" I groan. "Shi?"

My helmet is gone. I manage to pull myself up, using a nearby wall for support. My vision is grey. Everything is grey. I turn towards the city walls and I know that I will die.

The Traveler, still floating above the city, is caged. A small… thing stuck to the bottom of it like some kind of tick, orange and black webbing of some kind covering the rest of the traveler.

The Traveler's light! Somehow, the Cabal have found a way to drain it. Or block it? It's impossible. I stumble forward, vision flashing from the strain. My right side is torn open, a deep laceration above my left knee shows the grey of bone under ripped muscle and tissue. Blood coats my arm now, after clenching it to my side. It's warm, slimy, slick.

I drag my feet, using the wall to be able to bear my weight. I stumble towards a fire-escape stairway, basic training taking over primal fear as my pain fades, covered by the rush of adrenaline. It takes me twenty minutes to climb three flights. I collapse at the top, sunlight bathing my exposed neck. I blink heavily, but when my eyes open, the sky is dark, stars flickering through billowing smoke. It's harder to pull myself up this time. I feel like the wind was just knocked out of me. Blood dried acts as red glue, crumbling as I pull myself up. The bleeding stopped, at the least.

I look around the destroyed city. Nearer the tower, I see command ships, Goliaths and Interceptors follow ground troops acting as kill squads, killing anyone unlucky enough to be stuck in the city. Looking around, I see Kyle's Regulus Class 66c, embedded halfway a five story building complex, engines still smoking from engine fuel burning inside.

Almost an hour later, I'm climbing the stairs of the building, reaching the fourth floor. The ship protrudes through the wall, shrapnel scattered across the floor. I stagger across the floor, reaching the crashed ship. Prying at the panels, I manage to force the side door to open, using splintered wood as a lever. Smoke billows out. Coughing, I stand back, waiting for the flame to follow, but it doesn't. The closed cabin must have caused the smoke to choke the flames. How long has it been here? I walk in. The metal walls are cool to the touch. Fire's been dead for hours, then. I pull open the door to the cockpit.

The pilot's seat is still bolted in place, but Kyle and the restraints aren't. His body is folded over the control console, blood pooling on the floor. I can't- the blood, the dizziness...

I vomit.

I curl up, leaning up against the back of the pilot's seat. Time passes. An hour? Two? I finally pull myself up. Next to the comma nnd console, his first gun, Psi Tempus III sits in a DIY holster, plugged into the ship's NLS drive. I grab his body, doing my best to sling it over my shoulder. I look back at the pulse rifle.

I take it.

Back near my ship, I find my helmet. It's barely intact. I put it on anyway, twist-locking it with my chestplate. The HUD flickers on and off a few times before shutting off completely. My view remains, however, cut with a single, massive crack diagonally down the middle.

Further investigation yields Immobius from the remains of my ship, I find ammo, water, and food scattered throughout the ruined city in the immediate vicinity.

I find Box on the ground, covered by rubble. His shell is dented in a dozen places, his singular light gone. Dead. I clip him to my armor.

I find more ammunition, but every other gun in the ship is broken or bent past functionality. I snag the mid-section of Invective. Did Ikora survive? I wonder if she'll yell at me when, if I return it again. What's not to like? Fully-automatic shotgun that can still be used as a pump-action, with a core that regenerates a full magazine (tube?) of ammunition every thirty-to-sixty seconds. I also recover my sword hilt, a reward from Shaxx for guiding blueberries (new[er] Guardians) through the Cosmodrome and the Crucible. Upon inspection, it appears to be intact.

I wander into the dark city, lighted by the fires of the buildings as I search for Shi-2.

I encounter the first group of Cabal minutes later. Stumbling around the remains of the city, I see them. Two Legionnaires, their backs to me. I see the heat-vents on the back of their armor. Another new thing. Something tells me they aren't ordinary Cabal. I sneak towards them as best I can, readying Immobius. When I get within ten feet, I fire.

The hammer of the weapon audibly clicks, but nothing else happens. The Legionnaires turn on me, solar slugs being flung at me from one's rifle. I sidestep, sluggish without the light. I feel a rocket-powered slug tear through my hip, shattering bone as it exits my body through the other side. A second shot hits my Ghost dead-center, obliterating it.

I see red.

With a yell deeper than anything I've ever done, I pick up the nearest thing to me, a splintered wooden support beam, ten feet long, easily more than six inches square. With one hand, I hurl it at the Legionnaire that shot my Ghost. It tries to duck, but the wooden beam slams into its helmet, and I hear a snap as it goes limp and falls to the ground. The second readies its arc shotgun as I pick up a chunk of twisted metal the size of my fist. The final Legionnaire roars its guttural war cry as it charges me to get in range for its shotgun.

I charge it too.

The rage is so strong, I'm seeing things. It must be from the shattered hip, or the adrenaline or something, but I see sparks of purple flickering up on the edge of my vision.

I reach the Cabal before it can fire.

My fist swings around, slamming the metal into the helmet. The advanced alien material buckles inward, and cracks when I hit it a second time.

It goes down.

I drop the metal, blood and oil covering my hand. I once heard Ikora say that they use the same material to power the climate control of their armor that they do to power rockets. So I pick up its arc shotgun, and before I walk off, I grab a piece of plywood jutting out of a broken wall, fire still burning on its end.

I jerk it out, and toss it onto the grounded Cabal.

The suit is a closed system, so the fire will initially burn slow, controlled. Likely a few hours before it starts to warp through the armor and explodes. Perfect. Let it feel pain. Let it lay helpless on the ground, unable to do anything as it's barely conscience mind struggles to move the body past the fire.

Let them pay for the city's walls and population with their corpses.

The last thing I do before I leave the city is search for Shi-2.

Her ship, Cloud Errant S66 is in better shape. It's automatic landing system kept it from crashing, so she didn't die from that. Her ship's back is open, Murmur and Tlaloc gone from their wall holders. The ship is still in working order, and it's systems are intact. I pull Shi's Black Hammer from it's place on the wall, taking the last four clips. Necrochasm is there, to. I hear it urging me to wield it. I leave it in the ship.

I find Shi a few minutes later. Her body is strewn off of the side of the road, armor and chassis buckled inward from Cabal slugs. Her ghost is flattened, tossed on her corpse like a crushed soda can. Tlaloc and Murmur are buried in the rubble. An hour of digging and dragging later, then Kyle and Shi are finally on the ship. The door hisses behind me as hydraulic pumps raise the back ramp. I check the living quarters for the best gauze substitute, shoving some article of clothing onto Kyle's mid section, wrapping some duct-tape around it to hold it in place. It works for broken ships. I hope it'll hold Kyle together, too.

Heading to the control console, I turn it on. I grab the headset, my helmet discarded in the back room. Switching to the emergency radio channel, I hear a message on loop.

"-come back. The planet is being evacuated. Do not come back. The planet-"

I flip a switch, shutting off the comm unit. I set Kyle's Psi Tempus III under the console, plugging it into the ship. Black Hammer returned to its place. I look around the ship at her personal effects, trophies hung from the walls in the form of Barons' capes, Vex craniums, an old, rusted artillery shell, a weapon covered with FWC ornaments. On the opposite wall, next to the weapons rack, sits her personal library. Small, for a Warlock, but still more books that anyone should read in a lifetime. She always denied having them, tried to fit in with Kyle and I. Did she love him? I feel sick. Tears threaten to form as I sit down in the basic chair bolted in the corner next to the cockpit. I close my eyes. Holding them together. Willing myself not to cry.

But how could I not?

My two friends, my family, are dying. The only people who took me for who I was, regardless of face value. After hours, I strip my armor away. I'm wearing basic combat fatigues and a white t-shirt (year, I know, stereotypical). I look at my scarred hands, arms. Other than the neat line of a three-foot scar I've had along my left arm since being risen, I've earned seventeen more. For them. For people who I can't help. Not without the light. I lapsed into silence again. I'm a Titan. I'm strong. I was one who helped build the city walls. They've been laid to waste. Centuries of work... just... gone.

The ship rumbles as it takes off.


	4. Nightfall

_Forward:_ _I've re-done this about five times. I may end up deleting and reposting this chapter, along with writer's block, I'm revising. A lot._ _Also try to ignore some of the minor grammar issues, some of it is from transitioning between Docs and Fanfiction._

 _Hope y'all enjoy!_

 _Chapter 4:_

 _Nightfall_

 _We'll learn the song down there. We can learn it from Her. She comes up from the deep dark places where the greater Hive await to sing it to us, and here's a puzzle for you-_ _The song is_

 _death. To hear it is to die. To know the words is mortal. Oh, good point, Eriana, death is just a word, isn't it? A catch-all term for the failure to go on, nothing spiritual, nothing with its own_

 _quiddity. We all died once, and it did not prove insurmountable._ _But what if what if what if, shhh listen, what if death were reified, described in its totality, made autonomous and universal, separate from any context or condition? What if She could invoke the ending of anything?_ _How, then, would She know the song, and sing it, without Herself dying?_ _Perhaps they know a way to make themselves part of the song, part of something vast and burning that rots and peels into ash but never ever ends. Perhaps She has engineered this for Him, and pinned His power up against the quiddity of death itself._ _I am so terribly curious to know._

 _~ Recovered from a found dead Ghost near the entrance to the Oversoul, in the Stills ~_

The ship is silent.

I've dug through it's stores, and among the books I've found the fabled Pocket Infinity fusion rifle, along with a mostly-assembled linear fusion, the front half covered in heat sinks styled in the geometry found in the warmind vaults of Earth. Crux-Lomar's Truth, a rocket launcher with violent seeking abilities, Dark Drinker, The Jade Rabbit, Outbreak Prime, and an assortment of less... 'exotic' weapons. A faded book-styled pamphlet with the faded title 'Khvostov Field Manual' printed on the top. Flipping through, it's clear that the previous owner had some 'disputes' about the instructions, especially the firing mechanism. Books of every kind are on the shelf, mostly informational, but a few are fictional. Kyle's been lain on the floor, Shi's propped up against the wall closer to the cockpit. I spend a few hours looking out the viewport down to the Earth, our ship drifting in mid-Earth orbit. The Traveler looks so small. Compared to the the planet, it is. Our miserable little planet with it's little miserable people.

I know Kyle's alive. Barely. He's still breathing and moans from time to time. I can't do much for Shi, there's no way to put pressure on the wound, or stitch it, or whatever. There's nothing. Nothing that I can do. And out of all of her books, there's nothing on exo repair. I went through every title. The closest thing was the aforementioned 'Khvostov Field Manual'.

So I'm going to do what I know best.

I enter the Moon's coordinates into the NLS drive.

The Moon was eerie the first time I came here. Still is. The LZ is right next to an abandoned chinese base, and somehow, the century-old structure is still (mostly) intact. One large compound connected to a smaller building by a massive tube/pipe/thing. It's pretty cool, and the Fallen have taken basically everything except for the wiring (some of it) and the lights. As I switch the power on, I can hear the rumbling through my arm. The lights flicker, some break, but most of them stay on. I saw a few transport shuttles on the way here, most heading to the main structure, the only unbroken one large enough to hold a dozen people. The air will be thin for them soon. They will most likely all suffocate in a day or two, as the near-millenia old air filters struggle under the load of the CO2 that will become present. Using some external power extension cables, I hook the power from the (barely) functional station, saving some ship fuel by using the recycled electricity as environment control power.

Entering the ship again, Kyle greets me.

"Hey... you going to just leave me again?"

The ramp closes behind me.

"I've hooked up external power to the ship, so we've got life support for as long as we need."

"Are we on the Moon?"

I walk over to the main command module.

"There's a civilian transport. They've huddled up inside one of the old hab stations."

"That's not good," He props himself up a little bit more on the ship wall. "Those are almost eight hundred years old, right?"

"Fallen likely took everything out that can actually provide stable power."

"Well? You just going to let them freeze to death?" He tries, again, to get propped up.

"Get back down. Otherwise you're open the wound more than it already is. They made their choice, I'm going to make mine." I look through the weapons rack, pulling out Outbreak Prime and Dark Drinker. "I'm going back. I have to."

"You don't have the light. How can you survive down there?"

"I'll just have to." I open the ramp again. "Otherwise even more people will die."

"But the people... a few hours can't hurt that much."

I turn to look at him. Of course he's right. Whenever it gets to the deep-spined truth, he's always right. I hate him for it. Sighing, I walk over and sit down, sliding down the wall next to him.

"What do you suggest?"

"How long do you think they've been there?"

"It's hard to tell. Took me a couple of days to get here after the assault."

"Think they got here sooner?"

"Definitely," I nod. "The ship I saw had some cuts on it. Looks like the Fallen are taking it apart."

"Though they don't much care about the people-" He coughs. Bloody phlegm comes out. "-it seems."

I'm concerned. Not just about him and the people, but myself. I've been pretty bad at trying to handle my feelings, so I might just have to go with another's now.

"So, what do we do?"

After waiting a couple of hours to charge the ship's backup power supply, I detach the power cable. The ship rumbles underneath the pilot's seat as It accelerates slowly upwards, engined burning at low power.

"You alright back there?" I ask. I've taped the ship's pre-installed headset into my helmet so I'll be able to communicate from outside of the ship.

"I'm as good as ever... oh g*." I can hear him wheezing slightly. "Please tell me that there are more painkillers."

I flip a few switches on the main console, plugging the transport's approximate position into the ship.

"I hope you don't mind your gun flying the ship." I adjust a control setting then head back to the cargo-living-everything else area. Kyle is fully conscience now, and he sees my side.

"You prime?" He asks. I've forgotten all about it. I look down, expecting to get nauseated at the sight of...

The...

Blood...

There is none. Well, there's a little bit, dried on a long incision-like scar, but other than that, there is no sign of any wound. Just a gaping hole in my armor.

"The heck?" I feel it with my hands, making sure I'm not hallucinating. "That is weird."

"I'm as confused as you." Kyle asks. "Looks like you were shot, but..."

We're both confused. I feel the back of my armor. The exit wound is also sealed, little trace of the massive wound from being violently deposited from the ship

"Can you-" I nod to the duct-tape next to him. He tosses it to me, and I get to work covering the holes in the armor. I can tell, even through the silence, that he wants to ask something, but I'm not sure how I would answer. It seems like he's not sure what to ask. So we both try to get back to whatever we were doing before.

It ends up being an awkward silence.

"It's not looking good." Kyle sits in the pilot's chair, looking down at the 'base' that the evacuees have held up in. They're being besieged by Fallen, shanks slowly warbling towards the entrance. "They can't last much longer."

"I'm going in. You stay up here on the ship, transmat me about one hundred meters behind the Prime Servitor." I pull another four shells out of Invective's core, slotting them into Immobius's tube magazine. I look up at him. "Don't do anything too stupid."

"Don't do anything you would do. Got it."

I grin at him, putting my helmet on and snagging Jade Rabbit.

"See you on the flip side."

My vision blurs a little bit before flashing white as the ship's system transmats me down. I run towards the side, crouching behind the wall-railing, looking up at the ship.

"Radio check?"

"Check." His voice is laced with static, using the radio channel so I can communicate with him, since I don't have my Ghost. "Yell if you need anything. This ship has front cannons." The ship turns and flies upwards and away from the area. "Be safe"

There aren't that many Fallen. Two Prime Servitors, a Captain, and a handful of Dregs and Vandals. They're pulling in Shanks to run the survivors out of ammunition. From the sound of it, they don't have much more than simple rifles. Pulling out Jade Rabbit, I take aim. I shoot the ground a meter or so behind the Prime Servitors. They both turn, arc energy pulsing as they angrily warble, looking for the adversary. I shoot as fast as the precision rifle will allow me, each shot matching a heartbeat. Seven shots. Within three seconds I've shattered the eye of one Servitor, and after reloading, I pop back over cover and blast another seven shots. The core crumples, the massive floating machine spinning viciously in the air as it short-circuits, detonating with a wave of Arc and ether, staggering the Captain and disabling the other Servitor momentarily. I drop down behind the thin wall to reload again, Arc-empowered bolts barely missing me as the Vandals take aim, followed by the three seeking shots of a trace rifle.

I half crouch, half crawl a few meters to the side, peeking to the side of the wall in a different location. The three Vandals fall, as do the two Dregs, but the Captain's shielding holds, rounds being deflected or absorbed by the Arc shield. I hear the whine too late. I see the massive purple ball of energy coming towards me and I duck to the side, the shots missing by millimeters, burning through my armor and burning my skin.

I miss my Ghost.

I stick another magazine into Jade Rabbit, using the pain to focus beyond the distractions of all the previous events. The final Servitor falls to the ground, taking the Captain with it.

I instinctively look to the top left corner of my helmet's HUD, but the motion radar is gone. Without my Ghost, it's just a helmet. I sprint straight to the building, adrenaline coursing through me. I walk in, as not to 'startle' them, but even still, I can tell they almost fired. But, they is a broad term. There must have been one or two people in there that were alive still, judging by the discoloration of the corpses. Two still have blood slowly leaking through semi-cauterized wounds. I walk back outside, pacing.

"They're all dead."

"How many- -o you thin- -ere were?"

I look around the room.

"I count five casualties. All adult males."

"Ship c- -rry at least twen- -ople"

He's right. The ship, or what's left of it, is large enough to 'comfortably' hold around twenty-twenty five people. It's possible that they were the only ones, but not likely. I grab a trace rifle from one of the Vandals, grabbing the six magazines from the three, clipping them to my armor.

"Do you see another building nearby?"

"None. Th- -y must be in- -ide or r- -lose."

"I'll check inside again."

As much as I can wish that there was a 'secret entrance' somewhere, there isn't.

And something else feels wrong. Where would everyone else be?

"Brad..."

"What!?" I sprint outside.

"You're not going to like this." He takes a deep breath. "Another ship crashed next to an entrance to a Hive nest.."

"Bring the ship around!" I continue running out into the clearing, seeing the ship fly over towards me, my vision blurring to white as I'm transmatted to the ship.

"Got him. We're going straight to the tunnels." Amica, Kyle's Ghost, tells us over the radios as she invisibly pilots the ship. I grab the Cabal Arc shotgun and Pocket Infinity, slinging Jade Rabbit over my back.

"The h-"

"I'm barely functional, so don't argue to much." She says over the comms. It takes me a minute to wrap my head around. Eventually I do, just after the fading light from the transmat disappears and I stare down the small canyon at the mouth of darkness.

"I'll scream if I need anything."

The tunnel is deep.

It spirals down for what must be at least a hundred vertical meters. Dead Hive Worms, Thrall, and even Human remains litter the side of the path. I lost radio signal almost immediately. Without pause, I continue sprinting into a dark cavern, slowing only when the residual light is too little to continue on. I crouch, catching my breath for a brief second as I turn the helmet-mounted flood lights on.

There are corpses. Dozens of half-decayed skeletons laying against the wall, wormspore growing from some empty rib cages. Nothing new, though.

"Kyle?" I hear some static break through. "I can't hear anything you're saying. Hit the broadcast once for yes, twice for no."

After a second, I hear the static again, but in a single quick burst.

"Now we're getting somewhere." I mutter under my breath. "Kyle? Just stay on standby. I don't want you dying on me."

Silence. Static. Silence.

I'm not seeing any signs that there were any people that had come down here. I keep a steady pace down the passage. I hear the sound of Thrall, and I switch off the helmet lights, gripping the Jade Rabbit tightly. My skin starts to crawl as the ambient sound of the Hive nest makes its way to my ear.

I hate the Hive.

Creeping forward, slowly, I level the Cabal Arc Shotgun, holding it at my side. Turning around a corner, I see a few Thrall feeding on, the, whatever it is they feed on. I fire the shotgun, and with one shot, miniature rockets tear through all of them. The recoil almost makes me drop the gun. I hear the roar of Knights in the distance.

I heft the shotgun again and continue down the passageway.

Thrall start pouring out of the passage. Waves of a dozen or so, easily cleared with one or two shots each.

There are songs in the air.

There are ritual Witches nearby. I recognise the starting of the song as the Deathsinger's Dirge.

I remember sitting in the corner of the stairs leading into the Vanguard halls, listening to the miscellaneous conversations of people and Guardians as they passed.

 _"You do not know of a Deathsinger's power." Eris started saying. Turns out there was a blueberry Guardian that made the mistake of asking._

 _"They weave a dirge, and describe death in its purest form, a complete understanding of ceasing to exist. To hear the words is to have your life leave you."_

I run. Straight down the tunnel towards the sound. I jump and boost over the next packs of Thrall, trying to remember if I've ever been down here.

 _"You will die if they are allowed to finish their songs."_

I see the green ritual circles after a few more seconds. My ears are starting to bleed a small amount, and my vision is blurring. The Dirge is seconds away from finishing. I sprint, jump, and boost as fast and hard as I can, pulling out Pocket Infinity and pulling the trigger.

The Wizards next to the Deathsingers turn, solar orbs generating and preparing to shoot towards me.

Exactly one second after the coils start charging, Pocket Infinity starts firing.

The Wizards are ash in moments. I drop the mag, slamming another one in and charging immediately. My vision starts to double as I blast through the first of the Deathsingers, turning towards the without releasing the trigger.

My shoulder dislocates from the push-back of the rifle, but I hold it at the front as the last Deathsinger's shield disintegrates and the solar charges rip through the Hive's form.

I collapse.

The song was a couple of seconds away from finishing. I feel bile trying to come up from my stomach, feel blood running from the corners of my eyes and ears.

I can't do anything as I see Knights approach me.

I try and lift my arm to fire the Pocket Infinity again, finger wrapping around the trigger, almost lazily.

The coils spin up.

But the Knights get their first.

The sword swings at my hand. I move it and the sword buries itself through my gun and inches into the solid rock of the Moon.

My vision is blurring.

More Knights are coming. I can hear them.

I manage to pull myself up and stagger out of the cavern. Water splashes over my feet, chilling them. Everything is wrong about this.

I slip, falling into the foot-deep pool. I feel something soft-ish. I vomit as a half-decayed face looks up at me.

The noises are louder. How have they not reached me yet? I feel drugged. I push myself up again. I hear bursts of static over the com as I climb up onto the exposed Moon-rock of the hall-like cavern passage.

"Don't come down here!"

Static. Silence. Static.

"Leave-" I cough bloody phlegm. "-now. Go!"

Static. Silence. Static.

A Knight hits me hard, knocking me to the ground, placing its foot on my head. I try to move sideways, but it pushes me down into the hard ground. My helmet cracks, fractures spreading across my vision as it deforms to fit the shape of the rock.

"on- -ry! Shi- -ming fo- on't- -ve-"

"LEAVE!"

My nose begins pressing into the helmet. Pressure builds.

"-ET DOWN!"

I hear the fire of Truth's rockets grow louder. The Knight moves to the side, stepping off of my head, and I immediately roll the opposite way. I see the rocket track the Knight viciously, detonating as it plows into the Knight. Heat rushes over me as I'm thrown back a couple of yards.

I hear Black Hammer fire, Solar rounds ripping through hive.

More shots fire from Necrochasm as I see Kyle stalking towards me. He empties a mag into a group of Thrall, crackles as explosions come from the torn corpses. The rock next to the Thrall cracks, chunks of rock falling. The whole cave groans. Shi grabs me.

"Kyle! We need to move!"

"Yep! Go! Now!" Kyle drops a magazine, slotting a new one into the rifle.

I hear it.

Whispers.

"Kyle-"

The gun fires.

Take.

Kill.

Grow.

A Knight explodes.

The cave groans again.

"Stop-"

The cave collapses.

The sound is incredible. Shi covers me with her frame. Something hits my head.

Everything is black.

My leg is probably broken. I'm not able to move my leg out from under the rocks.

"Shi?"

Shoot.

I see Necrochasm lying a few feet away from me.

Kyle's out. Likely dead.

I see his arm sticking out from under some boulders, his head visible with a massive gash. The skull is visible, a large fracture crossing his forehead.

D* it.

Why did they come?

I told them not to.

Shi's not visible anywhere.

I groan. Try to move my leg again.. Nothing. I'm able to push the bolders a little bit at a time, so I resort to pushing it, then laying down. Push, rest.

This goes on for some time.

"-Kyle?"

I recognise the voice as Kyle's ghost. I try my radio.

"Kyle's gone."

"Brad?"

"He's dead."

I see the light of Amica as she advances through the cave.

I shove the rock. Again. Again. Again! Ag-

It finally moves, rolling off of my leg.

"Brad-"

Shoot.

"Your leg…"

"It's fine." I push myself up, immediately collapsing as my leg snaps, folding over itself.

"Hold still."

The beam of light from the ghost as it's low amount of remaining power washes over me.

"This is going to hurt. And take a bit. Hold on-"

"Friggin- shoot- puppies- butt-"

Shi-2 comes around the small corner.

"Just swear for goodness' sake."

"Nope. I'll just-EEAAAAGGH!"

My vision multiplies.

My helmet twists as Shi pulls it off. She looks into my eyes.

"Focus on me."

Her form begins to glow with a faint golden aura. I feel warmth spread over me as the Solar power from Radiance empowers me, taking pain away from my let.

"Schhh- that's kin-gah - kind of nice." Shi nods, turning to talk to Amica and her own Ghost. It has a basic white shell now.. They converse something, the single glowing eye of the Ghosts and the lights around where Shi's mouth would be flicker in turn.

Kyle groans.

"Kyle?!"

"F*-" he groans.

"Kyle!" Shi is almost crying as she runs over and kneels by him, grabbing his free arm.

"Here to help-" He drawls. His eyes are still closed. "Having Radiance must be nice. Don't have to worry about dying all of the time."

"You idiot!"

"I've a rock in my lungs, m'lady."

I cough.

"Mind saving the fl- flirting for once we're not bleeding out?"

They both look over to me.

"No." They both reply in unison. We stare for a second before bursting out into laughter, tears coming from Kyle and I. The sudden shift between one person to three knowing each other is alive is huge.

"But seriously," I wipe tears from my face, smearing Moon ash over my face. "My leg and Kyle's lungs are in a bit of a predicament."

Shi looks at Amica again, than over to me.

"Hold still." Shi grabs my leg and forces the bones into the original position.

I lose my mild tongue.

"Why don't you use your Void powers?"

"They only-FFFFFF- work when the- -there's an abundance of light ffFFFF-"

Kyle comes next, Shi and I taking turns pulling on him while lifting the rocks pinning him. Because we're on the Moon, we're about six times stronger here than on Earth. Even on the ground, I'm easily able to lift a couple of tons of Moon rock. It takes another hour to get Kyle out and mostly mended, and Shi reports that her Ghost is piloting the ship. We wait in the cave as the ship flies to us.

"Thank you."

Shi looks up at me. "For what?"

"For coming for me."

"No need to thank. We're friends."

"I told you not to come."

"Oh, just shut up about that!" Shi looks at me angrily. "None of this is on you! We can't blame you for trying to save people that you didn't know whether they were dead or not-"

"I rushed. If I had waited a hour, the three of us could have gone in together."

I feel Kyle punch my side.

"We're here for you."

"So we're getting cliche now?" Shi notes. "Cliche."

"I've still got to go to th-"

"We know."

"Aaaand- we're going with." I turn to look at Kyle.

"Sure?"

"Dead sure."

"To bad we don't have the three Nightstalkers with us."

"Ah- oh well. We've got the one-man-army over here." He hits my armor again.

I still don't know why they stick with me.

Me.

The idiot.

To be honest, that might be the reason why.

A lone Ghost floats in, stopping in front of us.

"Found you!"

It's shell opens as is floats slowly upwards, beaming light over me. Shi's mouth gapes.

"What the f-"

 _AW:_

 _jsm1978: I'm still not that good at writing, but I'm imagining he's been stumbling around for a while, and a sudden rush of adreneline might help with that, plus the rage on top of it. Imagine Shaxx_ in _the Crucible. It'd be mental._ _It'll all be explained in due time. (You can probably guess by the title)_

 _Chapters should continue getting longer for a while, but updates will not follow any kind of schedule. I'm in the 4th term of high school for this year, so it will likely be a while for chapter 5. I have some page-long stories fashioned like Grimoire that I might upload in between chapters for y'all._

 _Waddle_on_


	5. Ghost Fragments 1 (Intermission)

**Ghost Fragment: Ghost 3** TYPE: Transcript.

DESCRIPTION: Conversation.

PARTIES: Three [3]. One [1] Ghost-type, designate 'Box' [u.1, One [1] Guardian-type, Class 'Warlock' [u.2, One [1] Guardian-type, Class 'Titan' [u.3]

ASSOCIATIONS: [REDACTED]; Titan; Crota; Void; Bradley; Brad; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; Warlock; Vanguard; Zavala; Ikora; Hellmouth; Speaker; WoS; [REDACTED]; SIVA;

/AUDIO UNAVAILABLE/

/TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS.../

[u.1:0.1] I'm worried about him.

[u.2:0.1] Is it about [REDACTED]?

[silence]

[u.2:0.2] In that case...

[u.1:0.2] It's growing stronger. You need to stop sending him to the Hellmouth. Everytime we go down, it just strengthens [REDACTED] and Brad's connection to the Void.

[u.3:0.1] If the situation is truly as you say it is, Ghost, Ikora and I should discuss this further.

[u.1:0.3] I'm not leaving.

[silence]

[silence]

[silence]

[silence]

[u.2:0.3] We need to have a discussion with as little bias as possible. So please leave us for a moment.

[u.1:0.4] He's not another Dredgen. I was drawn to him! Even if [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] influence my Guardian, he IS a Guardian.

[u.2:0.4] Dredgen Yor was once a Guardian.

[u.3:0.2] And that didn't stop him from killing. This needs to be further discussed, Ghost, so if you will...

[u.1:0.5] Give me a little bit more time. I can try to pry something out. If it's emotional, we can fix it.

[u.3:0.3] Very well. But you must return his Red Death and Crimson immediately. We don't need another situation with the Weapons of Sorrow. [REDACTED] is already close enough.

[u.1:0.6] You have the SIVA prototypes! You already have tests complete! Just send them down! We already know that they can defeat [REDACTED] easily!

[audible slam]

[u.3:0.4] WE WILL NOT MENTION THAT AGAIN.

[silence]

[silence]

[u.1:0.7] Yes, Commander.

[u.2:0.5] I believe you were leaving, Ghost?

/...END TRANSCRIPT/

 **Ghost Fragment: Crota- Re-defeated**

I stand in front of the Vanguard at attention, waiting for them to finish discussing whatever was at hand. My Ghost appears next to me, and floats forward to talk with the Vanguard. After a few seconds, Cayde comes back to me.

"Hey, pal! We've gotta go for a short walk."

I roll my eyes as he passes.

The conversations are short, failed attempts of small talk.

I'm too tired to play along with him for the moment.

Ash covers my armor.

Minor lacerations on the back of my chestplate.

We eventually head to the ramen shop. Cayde gets spicy, I get the extra-spicy.

You can't argue with food.

I'm quiet, and though I laugh and continue conversation with the Hunter, my mind is elsewhere.

The Hellmouth calls to be.

I felt the Void. Not the power of the light in it's darkest form, not the twisted sword logic, just the Void.

I've not told my Ghost. No need to worry him about it.

He's been finicky these last few weeks.

Storm cells thunder as we head back to the Vanguard halls.

Cayde and I talk a bit when we hear a loud slam. Zavala, probably.

Muffled, we hear him through the door.

 _"We will not mention that again!"_

We look at eachother worriedly.

A few moments later, Ikora opens one of the large doors enough for my Ghost to leave. She nods to me, saying that she'll be expecting me in two weeks, then just about drags Cayde into the hall.

"What hap-"

"It was nothing. Really." My Ghost floats past me.

But I know it wasn't nothing.

The Void whispers loudly.

A/W:

I've already got five pages for the next chapter. It's probably going to be upwards of seven-eight. Thanks for the new follows!

Waddle on.


	6. The Dark

Chapter 5:

The Dark

-He had been a hero for so long, but pride had led him down sorrow's road.

Slowly the shadows' whisper became a voice, a dark call, offering glories enough to make even the brightest Light wander. He knew he was fading, yet he still yearned.-

-And so the noble man hid himself beneath a darkness no flesh should touch, and gave up his mortal self to claim a new birthright. Whether this was choice, or destiny, is a truth known only to fate.-

-In his first moments as a new being, he looked down at his Rose and realized for the first time that it held no petals: only the jagged purpose of angry thorns.

Shi's digging through her books in the back of the ship. It's fairly spacious. It's got a small bedroom, barely enough room for a cot and a small dresser (basically a wooden filing cabinet). There's an equally small bathroom with shower, and a sizeable cargo bay/living area. It's lined with bookshelves, except for some portions with strapped seats, about six, and the weapons rack. Black Hammer and Black Spindle are now next to each other, along with Outbreak Prime, Bad Juju, my Immobius, which curiously has Invective's ammunition core attached to it, replacing the open section of the magazine tube. An assortment of rare and legendary-class weapons.

"I can't find anything on a Guardian getting a second Ghost. As far as I can tell, you're the first." Her red eyes look at me. Whoever originally designed her frame made her terrifying. I hate being under her gaze in this type of situation.

"So, what're you going to call him?" Kyle's flipping through the 'Khvostov Field Manual'.

"I don't know! I'm still confused about what happened."

"What about Crate?"

"You need a break?" My new Ghost's voice flows through my head.

"Why did you choose me?"

"I was guided to you. Just like your last Ghost. You called him Box, right?"

"You're annoying. I think I'll call you Crate."

"Bite me."

Great. Now I've got a sarcastic Ghost, not just an annoying one.

"I can be insensitive too, if you want."

* * *

We're all sitting around now. The ship's next to the Hellmouth.

"We should still be able to revive each other. Our Ghosts have been able to heal us and give us our shields."

I nod at Shi's comment. "Once we get past the Stills, that means we should be in the clear up to the final battle."

"I should be able to get us some invisibility at the least." Kyle's picking at his nails with his throwing knife.

"I can put up the Ward on the rocks again. We should be able to cycle through our 'supers'"

"I'll keep Radiance for backup. That means I'll not be able to use Nova Bomb or Stormcaller." Her red eyes glance over to her Ghost. "That'll work, right?"

The Ghosts are still damaged from survival without the light. Their voice is kind of scrambled- like a broken radio.

"You might have to pass Bad Juju around." The SIVA-ornamented shell spins. "I don't like it, but it's what we have."

I look over to Kyle. "I think that Shi and I can handle the Stills on our own. Is it possible that you could rummage around the living quarters? We might be able to use Crimson and Red Death. They would work great, too."

"No problem."

Shi looks over to me. "You sure?"

"I'm used to soloing this." I almost laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"So, what're we going to do? You want me to drop me off?"

"That should work." Shi looks at Kyle. "Be careful with my ship. It's been nice to me."

Kyle nods.

I pull Outbreak Prime and toss Bad Juju to Shi, slinging Immobius over my back.

"If we're good to go, let's do this."

Shi pulls the priming bar on the pulse rifle.

"Let's kill the Hive God again."

Entering the Stills is nerve-racking, as usual. Falling into the inner workings of the Moon, pulled down faster than gravity by the power of the Darkness, hearing the whispers and the distant screams. Not the best way to spend every other weekend. The ground rushes up to meet us, a single circular platform lit by lamp-styled lights. I activate my boost-pack, hearing Shi use her glide ability. I land on the platform, slower than I was moving, but still hard enough to almost collapse. Shi floats down next to me.

Looking around, as my eyes adjust to the darkness, and at the same time my helmet increases the brightness for my view, I can see the path. Thrall, both Cursed and not, line the path and the 'open' ground, jagged rocks jutting out of the ground. I switch between Outbreak and Immobius, practicing slinging one over my back as I draw the other.

"Like it?" I look over at Shi and see her nodding at Immobius. "Took me about ten minutes."

I turn the shotgun in my hands, looking at the work more closely. It's a rough weld, clearly done by Shi, but it's firmly held in place. I feel the weapon's weight increase slightly as Immobius' core generates another round into the magazine tube.

"It's pretty good looking. Let's just hope it works. Crate?"

My Ghost phases into existence in front of us. "You know I was being sarcastic."

Shi's Ghost follows. "You kind of deserved it."

"What's the ammo count?"

Crate looks over to me. "We've got seven twenty-six for your primary, twenty-seven for the shotty, another twenty for snipers or fusions, and about three rockets or seventy percent sword charge."

So I'm mostly full. I turn to Shi to see her finish a silent conversation with her Ghost. "You good?"

"I'm full. Black Hammer and Black Spindle are on standby, and I've got Saladin's Vigil and Bolt Caster too."

"Immobius, Strongbow, and Morrigan. I think we're good."

Shi laughs lightly. There's no humor in her voice as she says, "Don't die on me."

"Ready?" She nods.

"After you."

We sprint down the path. As soon as we leave the lit area of the platform, we're weighed down by the Darkness. We slow slightly, and I don't break my pace as I shoot a Thrall near the first lamp, landing three rounds in it's head. Nanites rush from the destroyed head, taking out a Cursed Thrall, and it detonates.

They start running at us.

The deep clicking is all around us as we reach the first lamp. I feel the weight of the Darkness leaving me. Shi activates her glide as she moves towards the lamp, mantling it and turning on her heel, shoulder bucking as her rifle fires burst after burst into Thrall.

Seconds later, as the sound of the lantern grows louder and it's light changes from a soft white to a deepening red, Shi drops three meters off of the lantern, and we both run down the worn path towards the next lantern.

Sprint. Shoot. Sprint. Shoot. Reload. Grenade. Shoot.

The methodology is only interrupted when we reach the next lantern, and we hear the previous one detonate in the distance.

Watch. Shoot. Punch. Shoot. Reload. Shoot. Run.

It takes us ten minutes to reach the chasm. I hear Kyle over the comms as he (hopefully) lands.

"Got 'em"

"Shi and I will keep their attention. Try and stay on the outer path."

"Don't fall over the edge, either."

"Yes ma'am"

"Brad!"

I turn to Shi as she tosses me Bad Juju. I trade it for Outbreak Prime.

"You good?"

"I've got enough for a few revives and Radiance."

I shoot into a new group of Thrall.

 _Ever wonder what a group of Thrall is called? I thought it would be funny to call them a crowd._

I imagine rolling my eyes. _You're so funny. It's crazy._

 _I learn from the best._

 _You little-_ I shoot again, feeling energy pulse into me from the rifle as it takes the lives of Hive. _-You're lucky I can't shoot you right now._ _Thank you for your sincere compliment._

"Kyle? ETA"

"Prob'ly another fifteen minutes. It's slow without the lamps, I can't even jog."

"Shi, ready to form the bridge?"

"Yep."

"3… 2… 1… NOW!"

We both step onto the second, and final, circular plate in the Stills. Lines of Hive lettering light up green before a pulse of energy shoots outward, announcing our presence to the Ascendant Hive. We can hear the roar of Knights and the scream of the Witches and Ogres in the distance. I blast through another dozen Thrall.

"Ward up!" I announce. I channel my collected power and push it out to my arms, forming a Ward of Dawn. I feel an overshield cover me, and can see it's ghostly aura around Shi. Almost immediately, Ogre eye blasts slam into the bubble.

"Shi!"

"On it, hold on-"

She pulls out Black Hammer, firing six rounds into the Ogre's massive, bubbling eye. It roars as it disintegrates, leaving charred chunks of flesh and bone as is dies. Shi sidesteps into the Ward as Axion Bolts fly out from Wizards. I shoot them, then tear through the Wizard's shielding and tearing its head off.. Wizards and Thrall keep swarming out from the back. I empty another twenty bursts into the Hive, switching with Shi. The snappy sound of Outbreak fills the air as nanites burst from shattered skulls, seeking the nearest living thing. The sound of Thrall dying is drowned out as another stream of Void plows into the Ward. It collapses, first through some tears and gaps in the shield, than altogether disappearing. I draw more power provided from Bad Juju and put up another Ward of Dawn. I look over my shoulder. The bridge is about halfway complete, slowly spreading over the massive chasm. Shi steps into the Ward, pulling out Black Hammer again, and soon, the Ogre falls.

"Watch your six!"

I turn on my heel, pulling out my Immobius and blasting and Ascendant Knight, holding the trigger and racking the pump in six successive shots. It's head and upper body are thrown backwards, the body tumbling backwards. I hear the sound of Invective as it pushes another round into the mag tube.

"Thanks Crate!" I switch my comm on. "We're halfway there."

I hear her grunt.

"- d*mn*d Ogres. Got my shoulder."

"Kyle? How far away are you?"

"Probably five minutes. The Thrall have started coming.

"Oi!" Shi tosses me Black Spindle. I catch it one-handed, checking the mag. "We've got a wave of a few Ogres coming."

I look out into the darkness. There's nothing but Thrall. No Wizards, no Knights. Not even Acolytes. If I didn't know she was a Warlock, I would question it, but now I look around more. The pace of the battle is changing. I prop Spindle up against one of the boulders next to our plate, and fire the pulse rifle into the Thrall again.

"You want Weapons or Blessing. I'm thinking Weapons."

I see Kyle out of the corner of my eye.

"I think we could use a damage boost." He notes. "We've likely got a wave of Ascendants coming."

He tosses Shi Crimson, while holding on to Red Death.

"What? You were serious about using those?" I can feel my Ghost's discontempt. "You know the pulse was a Guardian kill-"

"I know." I think. Luckily, we are linked pretty much mentally, so the others don't have to hear me. "That's why I want to keep them. Less of a chance for someone bad to get their hands on it." I look back at the bridge again. "We've got about three minutes left. Be sure to stay togeth-"

The Ward of Dawn collapses under sudden void fire. All three of us turn and run back behind the cover of the boulders, and I grab Black Spindle, sliding behind with.

"A FEW OGRES!?" Kyle yells.

I turn and look, through the scope, at fifteen ascendant Ogres.

"The he-"

"Just shut up and shoot already!" Shi exclaims. She rapidly puts five rounds into a single Ogre until it falls. I take aim as well. I shoot one, causing it to stagger back.

"Kyle! Do something useful!" I yell, shooting another and causing it to stagger as well.

He peeks out behind me, pulling Outbreak Prime off of my back, and unloads a magazine into the Ogres. Thirteen bursts of three shots plow into the leading Ogre, dozens of nanites ripping out of the shots and seeking out the nearby enemies. I keep shooting, Black Spindle's intrinsic abilities allowing me to keep shooting without needing to reload. Three of them fall.

"The bridge is done! Let's move!"

I turn, holding the sniper in one hand and Immobius in the other. Void ordinance flies past us, some grazing our armor. The bridge is narrow, only about five feet wide. On either side is pure black. Thrall come from the inky abyss, pulling themselves onto the bridge in front of us.

"Crate? Take this sniper off my hands!" I feel it vaporize into my armors glimmer storage. My pace slows only slightly as I grab Immobius with my now unoccupied second hand. I shoot. The pellets spread harmlessly, missing them entirely. The next shot hits three Thrall, throwing their ash corpses back. Kyle and Shi move forward past me, not slowing to shoot. I shoot another shot. Another. I reach the end of the bridge. I weave through the disconfigured pillars, my vision filling with white as I run towards the massive wall of light. I keep running, hearing Thrall and Knights behind me.

Then all is quiet.

I land next to Kyle and Shi. The Oversoul floats above us. I think it's the corpse of a star. It looks like a possessed green eye, shattered in the air far past us.

I bend over, grabbing my legs as I catch my breath. I can feel my shoulder. It's torn open, blistered and charred muscle, flesh and bone.

"Sh*t" I look over to Shi. "You're not healing. He's powerful." She explains. "It's been, what, a month now?"

"Looks like we're going to have to rotate weapons often. Once the bridge is open, I'll stick on the main plate for a moment longer. I should be able to hold the deconstruction off for another second or two." I nod at them. "You got the Annihilator totems?" The nod back.

It takes us about another thirty minutes to get past the bridge. Waves of Thrall and Acolytes, boomer Knights. It's another five minutes until we pry the Ogres out.

The hallway is next. Shi sits further back, waiting with the Shriekers in her sights as I run down the hallway. Arc energy pulses around me as I lunge forward, plowing my shoulder into a line of Thrall, vaporizing the entire group. The first Shrieker falls. The second follows soon after.

I land. Hard. The shallow pool of water barely coming halfway up my foot. Kyle follows. Shi glides down, landing softly. I pull out the hilt of Bolt-Caster, the long blade forming as I twirl it once in my hands.

"I don't know if there'll be the Deathsingers. We stick together. We'll take the right side first, than cross over to the left. I can get the Shriekers with my shotty." I look out to the hallway, trying to get eyes on the pair of Knights that are inevitably there.

"I'm good to go." Kyle looks around to Shi. "You good?"

"Ready as ever."

"Let's move."

The Oversoul Throne is darker than it's ever been. I can barely see five feet in front of me. We're able to move past the post that the two Knights should be waiting. They're not there. I look up, seeing a single green flame in between the summoning portal at the top.

"You two see anything?"

"No. Sh*t's dark. I'm not risking my Ghost just so I can have a flashlight."

Flashlight! I reach up to the flood light on the side of my helmet, flipping it on. Dust floats past the beam, almost like a thick fog. The distant Oversoul reflects the light, then it darkens as I turn the beam, Inspecting the area. We keep moving forward, grouped together.

"This feels wrong."

"It always does." I tell Kyle. "But this is off."

I instinctively check Outbreak Prime's magazine.

We make our way towards the stairs, still alert. Nothing is there. No Shriekers, no Wizards, no Knights.

"Think we should go?" Kyle asks. "There's nothing here for us to do."

"I just don't know-" I look over to him.

"We'll be better elsewhere. Come on, let's go. I'm getting the creeps."

I look around at the dark area. Our eyes have adjusted somewhat, so I've turned down my flashlight. I can see the dark silhouettes of the jagged features of the ground.

"Guys? You need to come see this."

Kyle and I run over to Shi. She's in the middle of the section where the deathsinger usually waits. The massive crystal that holds Crota's soul is supposed to be.

It's gone.

I can feel cold running down my spine.

"We really should go…"

Blue-green light floods over us as the sound of a Hive portal deafens me. We turn in unison.

The dual pillars that assemble under the Oversoul to summon Crota are up, with a massive portal in between them.

"Brad..?"

"What- the f-"

"I've never seen this before." I walk through the passageway, never taking my eyes off of the black gate. I see that Kyle and Shi are following me, two blue dots on the motion detector following a meter behind me.

 _You need to be carefull._ _I know._ I wish my Ghost was in a position where I could hit it. _This isn't my first time dealing with the Hive._ _I'm serious._ Crate replies. _This is all off. Even Eris Morn and Toland the Shattered don't have any records of anything like this._ _Seriously?_ _Seriously._

I stop walking, I'm about five meters from the portal. I can feel the pull of the gate, almost making me slide forward.

Kyle walks and stands on my left, Shi at my right.

"Think we should go in?"

Kyle and I turn to look at the Exo Warlock.

"Seriously?!"

Shi shrugs, as if to say 'someone needed to say it'.

"Well," I take a deep breath. "We can go into the big scary portal, or we can leave and doom The City, Earth, and the rest of the Sol system in constant danger of being destroyed."

Kyle rolls his shoulders back. "How much glimmer to go in the big scary portal?"

"I might take you out to some spicy ramen after." Shi offers. "Then… we could.."

"In it is!" I sling Immobius from my back, racking the pump and ejecting a shell. "Lets kill this sucker."

We walk into the portal together.

Immediately, I know something is wrong. I fall maybe five meters straight onto my face. My helmet cracks and a red light goes off.

"What the he-"

Shi and Kyle tumble down next to me.

"-er!" Shi is finishing.

I push myself up. The ground is Vex material. Hive infestation covers it.

I look around to a cascading hellscape of a fusion of Vex and Hive. Pools of radiolaria.

Coils of Hive… matter cover pillars. Constructs and dead worms cover the ground.

And beyond broken portal shields and shattered confluxes stands the Hive godling.

 _AW: Another chapter! I've been having some problems with writer's block, that's why I had a 'Grimoire' chapter. I've got the next 3-4 chapters planned out. They might be getting shorter, and I'm still trying to decide what exactly to do_ _with the crossover. I'm probably going to start it as a seperate story, or something like that._ _Thanks for the support!_ _If you have any questions/reviews/whatever, feel free to review or PM/DM me. (Still haven't figured out what they're called on here.)_ _Anyway,_ _It's time to box the jabber and waddle on._


	7. Afterward: For now (dun dun DUUUUUNN)

I will be discontinuing this version of the story. I have gone back and re-written the first chapter and am, at this moment, finishing the second. I've been able to improve my writing style dramatically because of feedback and support on this story.

It will continue! And I will take every comment/review to 'heart' and consider all of my writing and story choices carefully. If you're interested in helping with pointing the story where to go or to provide suggestions and let me know if a chapter will work before I publish it, PM me and I'll publish that seperately.

Thanks for the support!

-Blargleschnartz


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